The fans’ favourite has become one of football’s biggest names and has earned a collection of medals which most can only dream of.

The Englishman has got his hands on 9 major honours during his time with the club, and is looking to land his tenth by winning the UEFA Champions League this month in Germany.

Lampard will lead the Blues out in the final as club captain John Terry is suspended.

However, the star is not interested in debating who will lift the cup should the Blues’ win it and instead is concentrating on getting the job done.

Lampard said: “I’ve won four FA Cups, three Premier Leagues and two Carling Cups. That’s nine so far but 10 would be even nicer.

“I never expected to have this kind of success when I moved from West Ham.

“I knew Chelsea was a bigger club and it was a huge step up but what has happened since was never on the horizon at the time.

“We have to thank the owner for what’s happened. We scraped into the Champions League the year before he arrived and his investment has taken the club to a different level.

“I’ve been very fortunate to play among some great squads and we’ve gone on to many great things.

“If we can win the European Cup this season it would be brilliant but it’s going to be a very difficult task against a fantastic Bayern Munich team.

“I watched them against Real Madrid in the semi and they were top drawer.

“There’s been a lot of talk in the press about who is going to lift the trophy but, first, we have to win the final and no-one here is getting ahead of themselves.

“It’s irrelevant who lifts the cup. I don’t care if all 15 or 20 in the squad have our hands on the trophy. It’s one of those things that becomes a sideshow.”

Terry said he was “honoured” to lift the trophy again and is pleased to see his “loyalty” to the Blues rewarded.

“It’s an incredible achievement and my loyalty to Chelsea has paid dividends, it is a great club and I am fortunate to be the captain of a very good team,” he told Sky Sports. By the way you can get Sky Poker £10 free by visiting that site.

The captain insists his side deserved the victory although Andy Carroll threatened them once he was introduced.

He added: “I think we dominated the first three quarters of the game, Andy came on caused problems, scored, and Petr [Cech] made a great save late on, but for most of the game I thought we dominated and deserved the win.”

One of the games main talking points was Carroll’s late header, and whether or not it crossed the line.

“I was honest enough after the semi-final to say that goal did not, but that didn’t cross the line,” he said – also admitting that the goal-line technology debate is most certainly going to be re-opened.

“Petr deserves the credit but I am sure they are looking at it and will bring it in.”

Terry believes the cup final win is the perfect preparation for the upcoming Champions League final.

He said: “I think it is perfect, we will sit back and see how the league pans out but now we have two weeks good preparation before the Champions League final, but the momentum we can take from this and the courage from people writing us off, questioning our togetherness and form, it is great.

“We have got a tough job ahead, but this can help and the form we are in at the moment.”

The Senegal forward opened the scoring with a spectacular left footed volley before, even more impressingly, sealing the win with a strike from the outside of his right foot which looped over Cech into the corner of the net in the dying minutes.

Di Matteo believes the defeat was down to the players’ failure to start aswell as Cisse’s unbelievable goals.

“I don’t think we ever got going, especially in the first half,” said Di Matteo.

“Cisse has had two shots and scored both goals.

“I don’t think he even knew what he was doing. It was a really strange shot and it went in at the far post.

“But the striker Cisse at the moment is very hot and everything he touches seems to go in.”

The Blues had their moments however and captain John Terry saw his header cleared off the line from a Juan Mata corner in the second half.

It was a less than impressive performance from Di Matteo’s side, and even with Didier Drogba partnering Fernando Torres at the end of the match there was still no finishing edge.

The boss believes that the side’s hectic schedule played it’s part as the Blues still remain in three competitions.

He added: “It was a difficult game for us tonight, especially in the first half, the tempo wasn’t quite high enough for our play and they did well. Credit to Newcastle.

“It’s our sixth game in 17 days but we keep pushing.

“It just looked like we never got into our rhythm tonight.”

A frustrating run of results up untill March under Andre Villas-Boas has meant that Roberto Di Matteo’s turn around since taking over quite remarkable.

The ex-player has reached the FA Cup and Champions League finals and is still pursuing fourth place ahead of the match tonight against challengers Newcastle.

“The table usually doesn’t lie. We have had our difficulties this season,” said Di Matteo.

However, the Blues currently train the two Manchester clubs, City and United, by 22 points and the Chelsea tactician insists the Blues deserve to be well behind.

“We’re hoping to finish the season successfully and as good as we can.

“They have won more games and won more points. The table always reflects the truth.”

He added: “We have been trying to make up the distance on the clubs ahead of us and now we are in a good position to get fourth.

“From my first day in charge we have always said getting into the top four is crucial.

“It is credit to the players that we are so close to Spurs, Newcastleand even Arsenal while we have still managed to progress in the Champions League and FA Cup.

“We didn’t want to just throw anything away and, fortunately, we are in a position where we are still fighting on all three fronts.

“I’ve really enjoyed coaching in the Champions League. It’s an exciting, fantastic experience.

“No one is thinking about the consequences of missing out on the Champions League. We are thinking positively.”

The striker also scored in the Champions League semi-final at the Nou Camp and after a bad start is starting to prove his money’s worth.

“I have had a difficult year,” said Torres.

“But the only thing you can do is work hard and the rewards have to come – it is time to enjoy now.

“[My last hat-trick] was a long time ago, so I am very happy about it,” said Torres, who took his tally for the season to 11.

“From my first day in English football, everything was really good and looking easy, even though it wasn’t, and I was scoring almost every day.

“It has been a difficult season, but things are getting better. When you work hard you get the rewards so I am very happy.”

The victory kept the Blues ‘hopes of a top four finish alive and we now look forward to Wednesday’s crucial game against Newcastle before the FA Cup Final against Torres’ former club Liverpool.

“We have got two finals now [FA Cup and Champions League] and a massive game against Newcastle in three days,” he said.

“That is the most important game right now and, if we can beat Newcastle, we will be closer to the top four and we can approach the FA Cup final against Liverpool with more motivation. It can be a great week.”

The performance of the striker has earned special praise from caretaker boss Roberto Di Matteo.

“He was always working very hard for the team and putting assists in,” said Di Matteo. “We are a team and that’s what you support, and it doesn’t really matter who scores.

“But I’m pleased for him that he’s scored the hat-trick. The confidence comes with the wins and, obviously for a striker, maybe a little bit with the goals as well. The whole team looks full of confidence.”

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However with everything looking done and dusted, Ramires scored a goal (from a pin point Lampard pass) that Messi himself would have been proud of just before half-time. This meant that Chelsea had a glimmer of hope. All the had to do was to make sure Barcelona didn’t score in the next 45mins. All though this doesn’t sound to hard. But against one of the best attacking, if not the best, team in the world, and the fact Chelsea had lost there Captain and the other rock at the back Cahill, it was unlikely.

Then to finalize any doubt that the referee was having a stinking game, especially with near every decision going against Chelsea,we concede a penalty. With currently  the best player in the world (probably not this week) stepping up to take the penalty that would surely seal the result that Barcelona needed, everything look dark again for Chelsea. But even-though the referee wasn’t on Chelsea’s side, the Gods definitely where, as Messi managed to hit the crossbar from the penalty spot.

With 10 mins of the game, I finally started believing that Chelsea could hang on. “10 minute, just 10 minutes” I kept telling myself, and this could be the greatest day for a long long time. Not only would Chelsea be making the final of the Champions League, but I had just heard a rumour that PokerStars had bought over Full Tilt. In case you’s don’t know, I’m play a good bit of Online Poker, and have money tied up on Full Tilt after it was discovered that Full Tilt had pretty much been running a ponzi scheme. If you want to find out more about online poker, you can find out everything you need to know at Pokersites.co.uk. So with the possibility of PokerStars buying Full Tilt and Chelsea reaching the final of the Champions League, everything was looking great.

Then with minutes to go. The final stop in this game came, with a Torres goal that will mean the 50 million spent on him might not look as bad.

We did it. Now just to wait and see who we get in the Final. Come on Chelsea!

The Blues host Barcelona at the Bridge this evening in the first- leg of the Uefa Champions League semi-final.

The Spaniards have won two Champions League’s in the last three seasons and are genuinely feared throughout Europe – but not by us Blues.

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Pep Guardiola’s side are favourites to retain the trophy but Lamps believes the Blues can cause an upset.

“I quite like the tag of being underdogs,” said Lampard. “It is refreshing if you believe in yourselves, and we do believe in ourselves.

“The last thing we want to do is take too much fear into this game. You can talk yourself into fear by talking up Barcelona all the time and we have to believe in ourselves. We have to respect the opposition but we have to play our game.

“Our style of play has been very effective lately. We are mixing an organised, disciplined game with some very good, attacking football.

“On our day and the way we are playing at the moment we can be a match for anyone.

“At the same time we completely respect that not only are Barcelona the in-form team at the moment but the dominant team in Europe over the last few years, but I believe we have a very good chance of winning the game. However we have to be at our best because we are taking on the best.

“We have a plan to beat Barcelona and we pride ourselves on the fact Messi has never scored against us.”

Since his arrival as interm manager at the start of March, after AVB left the club, the Blues have improved dramatically.

Nine victories in twelve Premier League games have ensured the clubs’ position in the race for fourth place.

The Blues also have a FA Cup final to look forward to aswell as Champions League semi-final ties against, the European Champions, Barcelona.

Lampard has noticed the change in performance and insists Di Matteo deserves praise.

The Englisman was said to be unhappy under Andre Villas-Boas but is now loving life at the Bridge again and believes the passion and love for the club the new manager holds is part of the reason.

“Roberto has to take a lot of the credit,” Lampard said in the Daily Express. “He has done brilliantly and the results speak for themselves.

“The basic skill of management involves man-management, and he has carried that out brilliantly, and you can see the whole side playing with a real confidence.”

“You can see the desire and love he has for the club, and the supporters relate to that.

“He has done the simple things right, and he has got individual players performing well and with real confidence.

“The basic skill of management involves man-management, and he has carried that out brilliantly, and you can see the whole side playing with a real confidence.

“When that happens, you have the chance of being a very strong team.”

The player knows all about Barca’s quality from his time at Valencia – but his team-mates have wasted no time in pointing out the history of the fixture.

The Catalonians have won only once in London which gives everyone connected with the club hope of a positive result.

Mata said: “My team-mates did mention that if there is one stadium where Barca does not feel comfortable and struggle, that is Stamford Bridge, especially in recent years.

“Chelsea’s hope is to progress.

“Barca will try to hold possession and force us to defend but we have a lot of experienced players in these type of ties.”

Andreas Iniesta’s last minute goal earned the Spaniards a draw at the Bridge three years ago – seeing them progress on away goals.

However, the Blues still feel agrieved after being denied several penalty’s.

Mata added: “The previous meeting with them was a very exciting one until the end.

“Deep in stoppage-time, Andres scored a great goal but that is in the past. I hope the outcome of this semi-final will be a different story.

“As soon as we found out that we were playing against Barca, everybody knew it would be difficult but not impossible.”

Barca are a team full of quality but there is no doubt of who brings the biggest threat to Chelsea – Lional Messi.

“To stop Messi is very difficult,” admitted Mata.

“He can appear at any time, as was the case this weekend in La Liga.

“But we cannot forget that Barca also have other dangerous players.”

Roberto Di Matteo will be hoping Mata can cause the Barca defense problems and the Spanish attacker is pleased with his recent performances and fitness levels.

He added: “I am very happy with the way I’m playing. I’m satisfied to avoid injuries.

“I’ve played many games this season and I’m still holding on physically so I have to continue like this.”

Didier Drogba opened the scoring at the end of the first half with a fabulous solo effort before Juan Mata fired home, controversially, the second in the opening stages of the second period. Referee Martin Atkinson awarded the goal but replay’s show Spurs defender Assou-Ekotto cleared the ball before it crossed the line.

Gareth Bale gave the Spurs fans hope when he pulled one back – but any hope was soon taken away as the Blues ran riot.

Ramires delicately chipped the ex-Chelsea keeper Cudicini to add the third, and then Lampard powered home a free-kick from distance to make it four.

Substitute Florent Malouda capped off a great day by adding the fith and final goal of the cup-tie.

After victory today Di Matteo now looks to inspire his side to take on European Champions Barcelona and the caretaker boss insists the Spaniards can be beaten.

“Yes, of course. They do have weaknesses,” he said.

“We just need to exploit them.”

Di Matteo believes all his attention cannot be used on star-man Lional Messi as the full side is of great quality.

He added: “It’s not just about stopping a single player, because obviously they have so many players that can hurt you.

“It has to be a team tactic, a team strategy, to be able to limit their threat.”

Although we are likely to be under pressure for long periods of the match, Di Matteo believes the fans will remain fully behind the squad.

“The fans will be behind us, no doubt about it,” he said.

“The fans have always been great at Stamford Bridge, they’ve always been very supportive to the team and I’ve absolutely no concerns about the fact that the fans will be cheering the team on.”